Hallowe'en Sussex 2022: Tulleys Shocktober Fest 2022 - Terrifying, stressful, intense - just some of the reasons why I loved this world famous event

Shoot forward four years - a lot has happened hasn’t it?! - and I set myself a different challenge. This time it was my first proper experience of Tulleys Farm’s world famous Shocktober Fest and the challenge was not to close my eyes during any of the truly terrifying experiences.

And just like I did not stop in 2018, I kept my eyes open the whole time - even when a blood-drenched prisoner came running out with a big wooden mallet.

When I finished my final experience I wanted to stand like Robert De Niro in Raging Bull and shout ‘You never knocked me down, Ray’ (or something more relevant to where I was). It is to my shame that I have never done the Shocktober Fest experience properly before. I did once go along and was made up like a zombie by one of the brilliant make-up artists for a feature - but I never did the experiences. This time though was a different matter - I did everything I could.

The evening started with the Black Carpet. This was a scary enough experience trying to recognise who the VIPs were. We were given a handy crib sheet of who had been invited - but to be honest it didn’t help.

But there were a few celebs I noticed. Strictly Come Dancing’s Neil Jones, who told me he loves scaring people, Sussex’s own Rag ‘n’ Bone Man and Shane Richie - who, when I asked if he scared easy replied ‘no, have you seen how many kids I have got?’.

Other VIPs posing for the cameras were Danielle Mason, Jaack Maate, Nina Naustdal Sugapuff and Love Island’s Coco Lodge, among many others.

Once that was out of the way, I thought I could relax. But how wrong I was. The first ‘experience’ I came to was Coven of 13. As I walked into the queuing area I was welcomed but a couple of the many brilliant actors who were all made up and dressed up fantastically, told me all the witches in the walkthrough did not like men. How right they were. It’s worth saying at this point it was absolutely horrific weather – but that really did add to experience and full credit to the actors. They got on with their jobs and stayed in character despite being sopping wet.

I may have been paranoid but as I walked through I felt I was targeted. You just had to keep telling yourself, they are not real, but whenever you turned a corner and they were suddenly in your face, it was hard not to believe they were witches with genuine beef against the males who were passing through. The next experience was Hell-ements - now this might have been the one I struggled with most. You literally put a hood on and had to hold a rope to walkthrough. There were uneven floors, actors whispering and screaming in your ears. Terrifying. Luckily I had Absolutely Ascot star Claudia Laura Smith reassuring me on the way round.

After that, I thought it couldn’t get any worse. But it kind of did. The two new experiences for 2022 - Electrick Circus (Clowns, why did it have to be clowns?) - and Doom Town (like walking through a post apocalyptic Eastenders set) - were both horrifying.

The Chop Shop involved very realistic chainsaws and the Wastelands Penitentiary involved some very discombobulating strobe lighting. I felt this one was the one where the actors got most in your face. The final attraction I went to was the Horrorwood Hayride. A relatively gentile tractor ride around some woods where some great characters come out and talk to everyone on the ride. It felt like the perfect way to wind down after a truly stressful but incredibly enjoyable evening.

It is frightening and it is intense but boy is it thrilling and one hell of an experience.

You can find out more about Tulleys Shocktober Fest including opening times, ticket prices and age recommendations here.